| Ancient ones left the land of ice and snow, and started to move south along the shore of the great ocean. In time they formed different groups. Some groups went inland. Some went farther south along the shore. Each group settled, or looked for, the area that the Great Mystery wanted that group to settle in. It took hundreds of years. But they were good people and listened to what the Great Mystery had to say.
One group went in search of great trees. They were to live in the great trees. Having found giant red trees, they thought they were in the right place. But the spirits kept telling them this was not the right trees. So generation after generation kept moving south and kept looking. They passed a place with high cliff walls where the shaman said Sinagua, Hohokam and Anasazi people would someday live. But this was not where they were to stay. They passed a place where the shaman said Paiute would be someday, then where Toltec people would someday live. But this was not where they were to stay. They came to where Aztec and Maya people would live and still they kept going. They traveled thought lush valleys, cactus filled deserts, steep snow covered mountains, grassy plains, vast deep canyons, and pine forests. Finally they found a vast jungle with great trees. The shaman knew this was the place. So they started to learn about this vast jungle. They were told to go up into the trees. Stay up in the trees. The canopy of this jungle was so vast, that it was no problem to go up into the giant trees and move around freely. Going from one large branch to the next with great ease. The people soon learned from the shaman what was good to eat and what was not. They learned things like, which vine could make a person sick if they tasted some of it's sap. Which vine had sap that was poison and the hunters could use it on their spear points. Which vine had an endless supply of good drinking water. Where fruits were at, when they would be ripe, and which ones were good to eat. Which animals and birds were good food and which were friends. What plants were good medicine. The shaman told the people to never go near a village or city. To not talk to other people. Always stay in the trees when any other people were around. Keep themselves hidden from all people. The Spirit People seldom went to the ground. All they needed was in the trees. Their food, shelter, clothing, everything they needed. Once in a while one of them would take a leaf bundle down to a river's edge and dump the contents into the water. Sometimes a few of the Spirit People would go to the ground and dig a deep hole, place a bundle in it, fill the hole back up, then plant a small tree on top of it. This was usually done at night when the moon was full and bright. Their light skin would almost glow in the moonlight. For several hundred years the Spirit People learned about their jungle and all that was in it. When other tribes finally did start to come into one area of the jungle, the Spirit People would move deeper into the jungle. From one shaman to the next the knowledge was passed. From one generation to the next. The Spirit People saw tribes come into the jungle and flourish for a few hundred years, then they would disappear. Some built large cities, some just small huts. None knew of the Spirit People. If they were accidently seen at night, they were thought to be ghosts. No one thought there was a tribe in the trees. No one except Jaawan Odayin Parish. His name meant South Heart. His friends called him Jay. His Native American parents were zoologists. For the first ten years of his life, he had accompanied his parents as they studied native animals in Central America. His father was an ecologist and was researching how animals interacted with other animals in their environment. His mother was a mammalogist researching the nine wild cats in Central America. His mother kept him close to her at all times. As she was most interested in the little known Kodkod, she spent lots of time in the trees learning about them. So Jay also spent a lot of time in the trees. He was a good observer and quiet. He learned a lot about the different animals and about the jungle while he was there. Sometimes his mother would find a large hole in a tall tree that was big enough for them to sit in and watch for the Kodkods. They would watch all day. When night would come, they would sleep in the large hole in the tree. Sometimes he would wake up and look out into the night. He saw lots of different things at night. Sometimes he even saw ghosts. |
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| music: Tampererfeat Maya |
